01/10/2024 6:21 pm (current 01/10/2024 6:30 pm)
Representatives from the 31 NATO countries and Ukraine met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the latest developments in the war zone. The Kiev government requested the meeting in the format of the NATO-Ukraine Council. The main reason for this was the heavy Russian missile attacks during the New Year. According to diplomats, the meeting was intended to focus in particular on Ukraine's need for more assistance in the area of air defense.
An exchange of information was also expected on the alleged delivery of North Korean missiles to Russia and their use against Ukraine. The NATO-Ukraine Council last met at the level of foreign ministers in November. The committee was created last summer at the alliance's summit in Lithuania and is intended to enable closer cooperation until the conditions for Ukraine's accession to NATO are met. These include, among other things, the end of the Russian war of aggression and reforms in Ukraine.
No major announcements or decisions were expected from NATO following Wednesday's deliberations. However, it was not excluded that individual allies would make new bilateral support commitments. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote about the meeting at Platform X that the central theme would be strengthening Ukraine's air defense. “An important sign of Euro-Atlantic unity in the face of escalating Russian terror.”
Russia attacked Ukraine three times before and after the New Year with combined rockets, cruise missiles and combat drones. They were the heaviest air attacks yet. According to the Warsaw government, a Russian missile briefly violated Polish airspace and therefore NATO territory.